President Donald Trump announced Friday that he’s nominating Kelly Craft, the current U.S. ambassador to Canada, to be the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Craft’s nomination comes after former UN ambassador Nikki Haley abruptly announced her resignation in October.
Craft has been the ambassador to Canada since August 2017 and formerly served as a member of the U.S. delegation to the UN General Assembly under President George W. Bush. She and her husband are two of the biggest Republican donors in Kentucky.
Other frontrunners for the position included U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell and Republican John James, who lost the U.S. Senate race in Michigan last year.
Craft made headlines late last year when she gave a “both sides” response when pressed to say whether she believes the scientific consensus that humans are responsible for climate change.
“Well, I think that both sides have, you know, their own results from their studies, and I appreciate and respect both sides of the science,” she said in a CBC interview.
Her perspective on the issue is likely colored by her husband’s business as a billionaire coal magnate.
Her nomination has already been backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton.
McConnell, who like Craft is from Kentucky, issued a statement calling her an “exceptional choice.” Craft, it’s worth noting, is close friends with McConnell’s wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
This has been updated.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story indicated McConnell is a native of Kentucky. In fact, he moved there as a teenager.